Grand Mesa is the largest mesa in the world and covers roughly 500 square miles. The mesa stretches 40 miles east of Grand Junction, Colorado, nestled between the Colorado and the Gunnison Rivers which helped to shape this high mountain retreat. Reaching heights of 11,000 feet, the mesa is a cool, green oasis high above [...]

If you are looking for an off-the-beaten path outdoor adventure, look no farther than Tin Cup, Colorado. In 1859, placer gold was found in the area north of Almont, Colorado. In 1879, the first big strikes of high grade gold and silver were made up past the Taylor River canyon. One of the prospectors carried [...]

Tales and legends of the Southwest are littered with unique characters, but perhaps none as unique and touching as the story of Prunes and his prospecting partner, Rupe.

El Malpais is one of the most unique outdoor adventure areas in the Southwest. El Malpais means “the bad country” in Spanish, so named by the Conquistadors who had to detour around rough terrain. This area lives up to its name with more than 590 square miles of razor-sharp black lava flows, the landscape is [...]

There is a 20-miles stretch of Chaco Wash in the San Juan Basin that was a major center of Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250. There are nine major houses and nearly 4,000 other smaller sites that are part of the homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, [...]

Beneath the Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico is a hidden wonder. It’s hard to image that under a rather bleak stretch of cactus, rock and sand there exists a world of exquisite beauty, hidden in more than 300 known caves (more caves are being discovered every year). Carlsbad Caverns National Park [...]

Four Corners Monument is a fun side trip when you are touring the Southwest U.S., so take a few minutes and stop at Four Corners Monument. It is the only place in the United States where four states intersect at one point: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. If you are very agile, you can [...]

Just north of Monument Valley is the little community of Mexican Hat. It gets its name from a curious banded rock formation — a large flat rock 60 feet in diameter perched precariously on a much smaller base at the top of a small hill — basically in the shape of a Mexican hat or [...]

Nestled in some of the most rugged and towering peaks in the Rocky Mountains, Ouray, Colorado is a unique vacation destination. As though some giant had scooped a huge bowl in the earth, the town of Ouray, sits at the bottom of 1,300-foot-tall red rock cliffs, that seemingly enclose and protect this intimate community from [...]

Moab, Utah, is a great location to begin an outdoor adventure! This small resort town sits at the center of one of the most stunning red rock areas in the country. Warmed by red rock canyon walls and cooled by the Colorado River, Moab’s valley location is ideal for launching day trips to Arches National [...]